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"I know who you're talking about," I said, prying my way out of his lap. I whirled around to face him. "Morgaine—Morgaine's on your land, isn't she?"
He tapped his forehead. "I knew you'd get it."
Feddrah-Dahns whinnied and stomped his feet. The look in his eye was far from friendly. "You must not let her know about the horn! She's been looking for it long and hard. Morgaine came to the Windwillow Valley not five months past to demand our help. We ran her off."
I slowly turned back to the unicorn. "What on earth does Morgaine want with the horn?" Other than to obtain incredible power, that is.
He nervously pranced in place. "I don't know, but I have a feeling it has to do with the Unseelie Court."
Chapter Six
"The Unseelie Court?" I shook my head. "But the supreme courts of Fae were abandoned right before the Great Divide. They only exist in memory now."
Delilah settled on the sofa, cross-legged. "It doesn't make sense."
"No, it doesn't." I turned back to Smoky. "Aeval, the Unseelie Queen, disappeared thousands of years ago. No one knows where she went to or if she's alive or dead. And Titania's pretty much running on empty, as we know."
Titania had been the Seelie Queen before the Great Divide, Aeval the Unseelie Queen. Aeval had been a terrifying spectacle of a woman, as beautiful and cruel and ruthless as Titania had been beautiful and gracious… and ruthless.
Smoky let out a perturbed huff. "I have no idea what Morgaine is up to, but I don't want her on my land. However, I thought you might like to find out what she has in mind before I turn her into my lunch." He stood, nearly knocking his head against the chandelier on the ceiling. He brushed past it with an irritated wave of the hand.
"As I said, Titania's in hiding," he added. "After you took that annoying man of hers away, she sank into a drunken stupor and disappeared inside her barrow. I believe she blames me for letting you take Tom. So, if I were you, I wouldn't count on her for help."
Iris headed toward the kitchen. "I'll get us all some tea. I think we can use it."
"Let me help you," Chase said, following her. "I'm about as useless as a blank book when it comes to Fae queens and Supe politics."
Menolly slowly lowered herself to ground level. "Morgaine was always a power-hungry thing. I wonder…"
I glanced at her. "Wonder what? Do you think she's trying to resurrect the past, only with herself at the helm? That's a possibility. But if so, why would she be seeking the Merlin? He'd put a stop to her plans immediately if she's looking to create a new Unseelie Court. Morgaine was his greatest pupil, but she's more apt to pull a Darth Vader on him than actually follow in his footsteps."
Delilah grabbed a bowl of Fritos off the table and began to munch. "The problem is, if any of the Fae queens—including any aspiring applicants—are looking to stage a comeback, there must be something going on to spur them into action. Are they looking to gain power to fight the demons? Maybe rally the Earthside Fae against the coming war? Remember, Morgaine did show up at the first Supe Community meeting we had. By the way, we've scheduled the next meeting in three weeks to see what progress everybody's made by then."
"Whatever the case, we can't ignore her," Feddrah-Dahns said. "If Morgaine were to gain possession of the horn of the Black Beast, she'd be as formidable as a demon and more unpredictable. She's never respected humanity, even though she's half-human like yourselves."
I glanced at the calendar. We were days away from the equinox. Could there be a connection between Morgaine's appearance and the coming holy day? There were too many questions and not enough answers.
"So what are our priorities? In order?" Menolly asked as Iris entered the room, tea tray in hand. It was almost as big as she was, I thought. We needed to buy a tea caddy for her.
Smoky graciously took the tray from her and set it on the coffee table. She gave him a winsome smile, her golden hair shimmering in the dim light.
"Well, obviously, our top priority is to find the third spirit seal before the Raksasa does. Second, locate Mistletoe and the horn, and destroy the demon spying for Shadow Wing." I accepted the cup of steaming tea and settled back in the rocking chair, letting the fragrant scent of Richya blossoms waft up to soothe my throbbing head. "And third, we deal with Morgaine and whatever the hell she's up to. I suppose we better find out if she's in league with Shadow Wing first. That's still a possibility."
"Morgaine? Involved with Shadow Wing?" echoed a voice from the hall. The door closed, and Trillian, my Svartan lover and the alpha member of my triad, sauntered into the living room. With skin black as obsidian and silver hair tinged with cerulean that cascaded down to the middle of his back, he was refined, elegant, and his eyes glinted robin's-egg blue, haunting in their magnetism.
Oh, hell. Trillian and Smoky were constantly bickering. The chances for a testosterone match had just jumped sky high.
I started to sweep past dragon-boy when Smoky reached up and pulled me down on his lap again, nuzzling my ear. He was staring directly at Trillian, a hint of challenge baiting that icy cold look of his.
"Not really necessary—not now!" I pushed my way out of his embrace.
Trillian glowered. "I thought I smelled the stench of dragon sweat outside. I see I was right. What are you doing here?"
I tapped Trillian on the shoulder. "Pull in the claws."
"I need to speak with you." He was testy, all right. "Alone. Now."
I shrugged and pointed to the parlor. "Fine. I'll meet you in there." Private was good. Privacy might prevent bloodshed.
